Victory for Christ Hospital Nurses!

Shortly after 8:00 pm on May 15th, votes began to be counted in a conference room at Christ Hospital in Jersey City to determine if the Registered Nurses at Christ Hospital would be represented by HPAE. As the vote count began, HPAE Lead Organizer Terri Falbo anxiously kept a record of the “yes/no” totals, while Organizer Adam Diaz paced among the many nurses who had stayed to see if they had won their union. 

Christ Hospital spared no expense in trying every trick to stop the nurses from unionizing. Funded by patient care dollars, they hired the notorious union-busting firm: The Burke Group. Despite the heavy handed pressure Christ Hospital nurses had held together in the weeks leading up to the vote in their support for a union. However, an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board was still needed to prove the power of their solidarity. And it did.

The Christ Hospital nurses easily won their union by a margin of almost 2 to 1. And in winning, the nurses taught the Christ Hospital management a good lesson in the futility of trying to stop a determined group of nurses who want real change at their hospital.

“We needed to stand together for a change at Christ Hospital,” stated Clair Mariano, RN in Pediatrics. “We want to bring back the respect and the morale nurses used to have at the hospital, and we know that our union will be the foundation and the strength behind that force.”

 RNs at Christ Hospital Win Their Union

“Let Us Take Care of Our Patients!”

Early in the campaign, Christ Hospital’s management had hired an anti-union consultant company, the Burke Group, to fight the nurses’ attempt to unionize. The company is known for using aggressive and illegal tactics against employees who want union representation (see article this page). And shortly after Christ Hospital management brought the company to the hospital, patient care began to take a back seat to fighting the union.

“For weeks, administrators kept pulling us away from our patients and forced us to listen to anti-union lectures,” said Janice Mackanic, an Oncology RN at Christ Hospital. “I kept thinking, that this is such a ridiculous waste of our time and talents. Let us take care of our patients!”

Spurred on by the Burke Group consultants, hospitals managers held anti-union meetings around the clock; mixing threats with empty promises that things would improve if only management was given another chance. But the nurses didn’t buy the nonsense.

“One thing I had learned working at the hospital is that promises are always made when we start talking about organizing a union,” recalled Bob Masser, an RN in Endoscopy. “However, when our push for a union was over, things would get worse. This time we decided that we needed our own voice. We were fed up with risking our security, working conditions and benefits on an administrator’s promises.” 

Unity and Community Support 

Outraged by the hospital’s anti-union tactics, community and political leaders rushed to offer their support for the Christ nurses (see page 2 article). When that support combined with the unity among the nurses for a union, the hospital’s anti-union campaign didn’t have a chance.

“We all knew that management’s promises meant nothing,” stated Carmen Manibo, RN, who has worked at Christ Hospital for over 30 years. “Instead, we made a promise to ourselves to stay united so that we can make a difference for our patients and their families, and for our community and for ourselves.” 

Over 30 nurses actively served on the organizing committee - one big reason the nurses won! HPAE Lead Organizer Terri Falbo managed and coordinated the organizing campaign, while HPAE organizers Joanna Lansdale and Adam Diaz worked tirelessly with the nurses throughout the union drive. HPAE organizer Steve Leshinski also participated, as well as AFT Healthcare organizers Leslie Bachar, Eunice Tooley and Harold Tooley, who all flew in from Kansas City. HPAE organizer Yonna Carroll and Public Policy Director Jeanne Otersen managed the community and public outreach part of the campaign, in addition to draftng the campaign literature. 

The Burke Group: One of the Worst

In the slimy, unprincipled world of the anti-union consultant, it’s pretty hard to stand out from the pack. However, the Burke Group, the consultant used by Christ Hospital against its nursing staff, sets a new low in standards when it comes to running anti-union campaigns against workers. 

Burke consultants aren’t afraid to break the law - repeatedly - if they believe that it will stop support for a union. 

On the eve of the election at Christ Hospital, HPAE had four unfair labor practice charges pending with the National Labor Relations Board against the hospital based upon its conduct in their Burke managed anti-union campaign. Currently, a hospital in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania faces numerous unfair labor practice charges as a result of its Burke directed anti-union campaign.

Burke usually appears on the scene masquerading as “information specialists”, sometimes even claiming to be Labor Board representatives (as they did at Christ Hospital), who are just there to advise and present “facts.” However, employees are soon bombarded with a blizzard of misinformation about unions, and are rounded up for mandatory anti-union meetings.

Burke consultants use a “carrot and stick” approach: holding constant meetings with employees - both in large and small groups - in order to threaten and intimidate workers. At the same time, workers are promised better wages and policies if management is “given another chance” and workers drop their support for a union. 

However, as the nurses at Christ Hospital proved, Burke and other consultants like Burke can be beaten. 

“Enlisting community support is a key factor when workers beat consultants like Burke,” states HPAE Organizing Director Larry Lipschultz, who directed the Christ Hospital campaign. “Once companies like Burke are identified as the outsiders they are, and their tactics are exposed, people in the community will do the right thing and back the workers. That made a big difference at Christ. People knew that the nurses were fighting for quality patient care in their community.”